Children’s Mental Health Week 9th-15th February 2026

This is My Place: Conversations, Community and Children’s Mental Health

Children’s mental health is often thought about in term of school-aged children or teenagers when, in moments of acute crisis, services like Mikeysline provide immediate emotional support to people experiencing distress or suicidal thoughts. Alongside this, The Brent Centre Highland supports children, young people, and families through therapeutic services, helping them make sense of complex emotions and life experiences. Both organisations help children and young people navigate mental health and offer services and support so that children feel their voices are heard, fostering a sense of belonging. This reflects the key focus of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week – ‘This Is My Place.’

While there are many organisation providing mental health services to older children and young people there are many others focusing on the youngest members of our communities, supporting the emotional wellbeing of babies, toddlers and their families.  Long before a child can articulate how they feel, mental and emotional wellbeing is already taking shape and in the earliest days of life, connection, conversation and community help to form the foundation of a child’s sense of belonging.

Community support through Home-Start East Highland

For families with young children, the early years can bring both joy and significant challenge. Emotional and physical demands, isolation, and major life changes can all place pressure on family wellbeing. Home-Start East Highland provides support, friendship, and practical help to families across Inverness, Ross-shire and surrounding areas, helping parents feel less alone during these formative years.

Central to this support are relationships built on trust. Home-Start volunteers work alongside families in a way that is open, supportive, and non-judgemental, creating space for meaningful conversation and connection. As one volunteer explains:

“With appropriate, individual support I have seen stress levels fall, big improvements in parental confidence and feelings of self-worth, which improved mental wellbeing and led to far more positive interactions within the family.”

These everyday changes matter. When parents feel more confident and supported, children benefit too. Shared activities, gentle encouragement, and consistent presence help children feel safer and more secure. As another volunteer reflects:

“Seeing parents happier often helps the child feel happier.”

Through this steady, compassionate support, Home-Start East Highland helps families build a sense of belonging — reminding us that raising children is not meant to be done alone.

Supporting Little Minds with Love: How Home‑Start Caithness Nurtures Infant & Early‑Years Mental Health

Staff and volunteers at Home-Start Caithness host a full programme of activities for families across the north including Baby Massage, Dad’s Groups, Family Groups and ASN support which are open to all families. Volunteers and staff offer warmth, patience, and a steady presence, the kind of support that helps parents feel more confident and helps babies feel secure, building emotional wellbeing and their sense of place.

Fiona Carlise, Chief Executive Officer at Home‑Start Caithness explains:

 “Supporting infant and early‑years mental health isn’t something we do once a year, it’s woven into every visit, every group, every conversation, and every moment of kindness shared by our volunteers, trustees and staff. Awareness days simply give us a chance to celebrate the incredible difference we are all making together.”

By being there early in a child’s life, organisations like Home-Start can help families build strong emotional foundations and these small acts of support can help shape a child’s confidence, resilience, and sense of security for years to come.

Life is unpredictable

Family life does not follow a straight line. Circumstances shift, challenges arise, and the support a family needs can change over time. Children’s mental health is shaped not only by early experiences, but by how families are supported through moments of transition, disruption, and loss.

When the sense of safety and belonging around a child is shaken, responsive community support becomes even more vital

Support in times of bereavement: Crocus

Bereavement and significant loss can affect children and families in complex and often unseen ways. During these times, organisations like Crocus provide vital emotional support, offering care, understanding, and space for families to navigate grief.

For children, loss can disrupt their sense of place and security. Having access to compassionate support and opportunities for conversation helps families feel less alone and reassures children that even in times of deep change, they are still held within a caring community.

The Need for Volunteers: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact

Behind the calm, welcoming spaces at Crocus is a dedicated team of trained volunteers who give their time, presence, and care to bereaved children and young people. Volunteers are not expected to have all the answers. What matters most is the ability to listen, to be steady, and to sit alongside a child without trying to rush their feelings away.

For many children, a trusted adult outside their immediate family can make all the difference. Volunteers help create an environment where children feel safe to talk, to play, to remember, or simply to be quiet. In doing so, they become part of a child’s healing landscape.

During Children’s Mental Health Week, it’s important to recognise that services like Crocus can only continue their vital work with the support of the wider community. As referrals increase and awareness grows, so too does the need for compassionate volunteers who are willing to be trained and supported in this sensitive work.

Volunteering with Crocus is not about fixing grief. It is about offering consistency, kindness, and human connection. It is about helping children feel less alone with feelings that can otherwise feel overwhelming.

This Children’s Mental Health Week the take away message can be this - Children’s mental health is built over time — through early relationships, open conversations, and communities that respond as life changes. By strengthening the village around families, and by recognising the vital role of early support, community-based organisations, and crisis services, we help children grow up knowing they belong.

‘This Is My Place’ is not something a child finds alone. It is something communities build together.